“Next on Channel 7 News, a remarkable turnaround for a company most considered to be one of the worst in the country. We go live to our field reporter Penny Torrance now.”
“Thanks Jeff, I’m here outside Frederick’s Family Fluffy Farm with owner of the company Frederick Peterson and with founder of the new sub-division Carter’s Creature Comforts, Lewis Carter. Gentleman, lovely to meet you both.”
“And you as well Miss Torrance, thank you for having us.”
“Yeah, it’s… it’s nice to be here.”
“Now Mr Peterson, I feel I’m safe in saying that only last year your company was facing some of its worst ratings in public opinion?”
“Unfortunately that is true, we’d gotten distracted with quantity over quality, it didn’t matter what state the Fluffies were in when we sold them, just so long as they were sold. It’s a mistake that I take responsibility for and for which I’m eternally thankful to Mr Carter here for setting me right.”
“Of course, Mr Carter, ho w did you ever come up with the idea for your brand of well-behaved Fluffies?”
“Oh well, y’know… Once you start seeing areas that need fixing you turn to the boss and let him know, luckily my boss actually listens. And for the record, I never chose the name, it was an inside joke that got out of hand.”
“He’s just modest, the whole thing was his baby, he’s been raising his group for the last 8, 9 months, teaching them all the things we should’ve been teaching them from the start. The results are the wonderful Fluffies we’ve been able to sell today.”
“Is it true Mr Peterson that since you’ve stopped collecting ferals from the streets the Fluffy population has increased throughout the city? Do you take any responsibility for this?”
“None whatsoever, the city council chose to turn a blind eye to the Fluffies because I took on that job free of charge. When we decided to change our store mandate I gave the councillors several warning, both written and in person, telling them that they would need to handle the Fluffy population themselves since we wouldn’t be able to take them in anymore. Clearly they decided not to follow that advice and now the population boom is on them, however we are aware that given our situation we cannot do without feral Fluffies forever, there’s not a big enough gene pool for that to happen. So we’ve chosen to work with some of the No-Kill shelters in the area, with the profit margins we’ve been seeing we’ve been able to give subsidies to the shelters so they can take on more stock, in return we take in any Fluffies we like the look of and take care of any Smarty’s they may have. It’s a win-win relationship for everyone.”
“It certainly seems like it, well thank you both for talking to us, I might have to take a peek at your selection and pick one for myself. For Channel 7 News, I’m Penny Torrance, back to you Jeff.”
“You looked braw on the telly this morning.”
Lewis rolled his eyes at Daniel as the Scotsman pulled up his truck and jumped out of the cab.
“Please, I looked and sounded like I didn’t want to be there. Because I didn’t want to be there, fucking Peterson comes up to me just seconds after I’ve clocked in and tells me we’re doing an interview with Channel 7. Fucking would’ve been nice if he told me beforehand.”
“Yer cute when yer pissed, ya know that?”
Lewis blushed. “Shut up. Alright, I was told you were bringing some Fluffies in for us, any good ones?”
The smile on Daniel’s face dropped and her voice got low and serious. “These yins ain’t for breeding purposes Lou, they’re rescues.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, Guano was a rescue and he’s turned out fine. Mostly fine anyway.”
“Naw, it’s no the same.”
Daniel reached into his cab and pulled out a cardboard box, Lewis could already hear the crying and whimpering as Daniel brought the box over. Looking inside he saw five Fluffies of varying types, colours and ages, all huddled together with blankets and toys for comfort.
Daniel looked down and tried to ease their fear. “It’s alright wee-yins, this is ma friend I telt ye about, he’ll help you oot.”
Lewis looked down at the box, then at Daniel, noting the look of pleading on his face.
“You’re lucky I like you, bring them upstairs.”
With the success of the initial group, Lewis’ off-shoot had grown in name and in stature, taking up two and a half bays as they grew in numbers. By this point the initial group were on their third or fourth litter while the first set of children were having their first litter as well.
Adam and Alley’s daughter Ginny had been paired with a Ruby Red Pegasus called Griffin.
Barry and Betty’s son Horace had been paired with a white and purple unicorn called Harper.
Dave and Darcy’s daughter Janet had shown a lot of interest growing up to Eric and Emma’s son Kane, so much so that Lewis had walked into work one day to both sets of parents berating their children for essentially dry-humping to curb their growing desires. Separately both of them were valuable, Janet’s peach fluff was both glossy AND curly while Kane’s Fluff was sea blue and iridescent silver, plus they were both Alicorns. So Lewis decided to pair them together, he expected great things to come out of their foals but if nothing else they made each other happy.
Of course by allowing them to get together, he had to deal with the group’s other pairing. Clive and Clara’s son Issac had been very close to Felicity’s daughter Fiona, and now that they were of breeding age both had shown a strong interest in pairing together. Lewis was absolutely fine with it, he was delighted Fiona’s love life wouldn’t be as rough as her mothers, the problem was convincing Peterson that a glittery black and yellow spotted Pegasus mating with a solid brown Alicorn was a good thing.
In the end Lewis chanced it, he waited until Fiona was pregnant before telling Peterson the news, it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission after all.
With so many Fluffies to look after, Lewis, Jennifer and Flynn were no longer than only staff members anymore, they had a team of 10 working through the week to help out with the influx of foals, though Lewis and Jennifer were in most of the week with Flynn picking up extra shifts whenever he was able to.
Oddly he always seemed to pick the shifts when Jennifer was working as well.
Both Jennifer and Flynn were working when Lewis burst in with Daniel, Flynn readied himself to mock Lewis for showing off his new boyfriend when he saw the serious look on Lewis’ face and the box of Fluffies in his arms.
“What you got there?”
“Danny’s got some rescue Fluffies, they seem in pretty bad shape, I wanted to ease them into their new place here.”
Jennifer rushed over to help. “How bad we talking?”
Daniel took a deep breath. “It’s no pretty lassie, here I’ll make the introductions.”
Lewis placed the box on the floor away from the other Fluffies while Jennifer, Flynn and Daniel sat beside him, Martha saw that Lewis wanted some privacy so she got to work keeping the group distracted.
Daniel reached into the box and scooped a green unicorn mare with a yellow mane and a missing right eye. Lewis noted that even with them trusting Daniel more than himself and the others, they still trembled at human contact.
“This is Lily, wee lass was the house pet, did-nae git much physical abuse cause she was taw stand and look bonnie for guests. But she got the same neglect and psychological abuse as the others, bastard threw a dart at her when she asked tae have young-uns.”
“Neba ask daddeh befow, nu knyo he weact wike dat. Onwy wan babbehs fow heawt-huwties.”
Daniel looked around for a place to put Lily, Jennifer quickly grabbed a spare bed and tossed it over beside him, letting Daniel place Lily down while not having her too far away from him. He reached into the box again and pulled out a surprisingly small – not micro-fluff size but still small even for a Fluffy – little red and orange earthie with squinted eyes, a dumb smile on his face and his tongue partially hanging out.
“This is Stevie, he’s stunted from being conked over the noggin one time tae many, does-nae really ken whit he’s daeing, but he’s happy taw be here. Ain’t that right Stevie?”
“STEEBEE WUB NOO FBWENDS!” The little guy started bouncing up and down on Daniel’s hand, giggling away. It was a bittersweet sight to behold that hurt everyone’s hearts as Daniel put him down next to Lily.
Flynn tried to break the silence. “He’s happy, that’s something I guess.”
“Aye, but in his case ignorance is bliss, he’s does-nae ken whit happened tae his missus.”
Daniel picked up another Fluffy, an off-white Alicorn mare with a light blue mane, at least that’s what Lewis could make out of her since most of her body was covered by a multicolour patchwork blanket. He also noted that while the others were calming down slightly thanks to Daniel’s soft hand in introducing the Fluffies, this one hadn’t stopped crying since she came in.
“This lass is Vanessa, though she goes by Ness most of the time, she was Stevie’s mate till he got turned intae the jolly wee sod we have now. She doesnae say much, but she still loves Stevie, still calls him her special-friend, though after he got derped she put her efforts intae raising the bairns by herself.”
Jennifer looked in the box, confused by what Daniel had said. “Where are her kids then, are they coming separately or…”
Suddenly Jennifer’s face dropped and her skin went deathly white, Lewis saw she was looking at the multicolour blanket and he came to the same realisation.
The blanket was made up of Ness’ foals.
Daniel solemnly nodded. “Aye, sick fuck butchered them all in front of her, then gave her the blanket tae ‘keep warm’. Dinnae even try to take it off her, does-nae matter how dirty it gets, so long as it still smells like them she’ll no want tae leave it.”
Daniel placed the neat despondent Ness down next to Lily and Stevie, both of whom hugged her though Stevie seemed to do it because he just wanted a cuddle. Daniel turned and gentle picked up the last two Fluffies, both of whom refused to let go of their hug on the other. It was a male and a female, both Pegasi, the male was blue with a dark orange mane, the female was yellow with a purple mane.
“This is Lena and Nick, they’ve probably had it the worst of the lot, they’re brother and sister, but their owner didn’t care about that when he made them…”
Daniel couldn’t finish his sentence but he didn’t have to, Jennifer threw up a little in her mouth from the implication alone. Nick looked up at them all, his hoofs still wrapped around his sobbing sister.
“Meanie daddeh make Nik gib sissy su many bad-huggies, hab wots of bad-babbehs, twy tu wub dem stiww bu daddeh gib dem aww foweba sweepies. Nu babbeh eba be tawkie babbehs.”
Lewis reached over and softly petted the two of them, they quivered at his touch but after a moment they calmed at the gentle feel.
“It’s ok guys, you’ll be safe with us until we find you somewhere safe to stay, we’re nice humans, I promise you.”
Nick sniffed as he looked into Lewis’ eyes. “Can… can nice mistah du Nik favow?”
“Sure, what do you need?”
“Can nice mistah take Nik wumps? Nu wan gib sissy bad huggie nu mowe, bu nu wan weave sissy awone. Nik wub Wena, nu shouwd bu nu can stop. Wan stay wiv hew, nu wan babbehs, nu ask fow skettis ow toys, jus wan be wiv Wena, keep sissy safe fwom munstahs.”
Lewis was knocked for a loop, for the first time ever he had a stallion volunteering to be castrated, because his psyche was so damaged from his last owner that he couldn’t separate his sister from his special-friend and didn’t want to leave her alone.
“Jesus Danny, where did you find these guys?”
“Little shelter near the bridge outta town. Some lass dropped them off, saying her ex did some fucked-up experiments on them, she was leaving him but wanted tae make sure the wee-yins were safe first.”
Daniel saw Lewis had a curious look on his face, and he knew exactly what he was going to say.
“It wasnae Josef Lou, their owner was a bloke called Gary or Gareth or fucking something like that.”
Lewis briefly wondered if his ex-boss Gareth Michaels was taking some of the merchandise home with him but he quickly ignored that thought since he had to deal with something far more important. He turned to Jennifer and Flynn.
“You guys ok to look after the new guys for a moment, introduce them to Martha if you can. Danny can I speak with you in private please?”
The others were a little shocked by the sudden seriousness of Lewis’ words, Jennifer and Flynn nodded and got to work feeding and cleaning the new arrivals while Daniel got up and followed Lewis through to the back room.
Lewis realised he hadn’t fully cleaned up the room since he took it over as a personal living space several months back, even now that he was living at home again the remnants of his days sleeping at work were still plain to see. Something that Daniel picked up on quite quickly.
“This wasnae how I thought I’d first see your bedroom.”
Lewis chuckled but his face was still serious. “Danny, I’m gonna sound like a Grade-A dickhead but I have to be honest with you, I can’t take the Fluffies.”
Daniel’s mood plummeted, he took a deep breath to keep from crying and spoke as calmly as he could to Lewis. “How no?”
“This is a breeding mill Danny, and I can’t breed them. Nick is already asking me to cut off his balls because he’s in love with his sister, Stevie CAN’T breed, or at least he shouldn’t because I don’t think he’ll even understand what he’s doing. Vanessa COULD breed and judging by her blanket she’ll make some absolutely gorgeous foals, but she needs time to heal and we don’t have the time or the expertise to help her. The only one I’d consider adding to the group is Lily and even then I’ll need to find a stallion who won’t immediately hit her for being a ‘one-eyed monster’.”
“Well, why no just keep them as helpers, let them stay under Martha’s thumb?”
“Martha’s been working as a nurse-mare for longer than most Fluffies live. She’s forgotten more about helping Fluffies than we’ll ever know, and yes she could have a couple of them be students under her tutelage, but that’s going to double her work effort trying to teach them everything she can, when most of what she does is second nature. I’ve no doubt they’d be good students but I won’t put the strain on Martha for something we can’t guarantee working. Besides, it’s best for Vanessa if she stays as far from here as possible, as soon as Peterson sees that blanket of hers he’ll start pushing to get her breeding.”
Lewis saw that Daniel was upset at the news, maybe even a little betrayed, cautiously Lewis stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Look, I love that you trusted me enough to bring them here, and I love you for actually giving a shit about their wellbeing, I hate telling you I can’t do this for you because I know you want this, but I have to keep things realistic and admit that there’s nothing I can do. Can you forgive me?”
Daniel’s sullen face slowly but surely grew a smile as he looked into Lewis’ eyes. “Well, I guess I can look past it, on one condition.”
“Anything you need?”
“Say it again.”
“Say what?”
“Say you love me.”
It took a second for Lewis to realise what Daniel was talking about but then he remembered what he said a moment ago, Lewis chuckled and stepped closer to Daniel, putting his arms around the Scotsman’s muscular back and softly kissing him.
“I love you, you ginger prick.”
“Love you too ya fuckin eejit.”
The two men laughed and kissed again.
“Ye sure there ain’t something ye can dae? I dinnae want tae chuck the wee buggers oot ya ken?”
“I do, and there may be something, just depends if he’s got the space for them or not.”
“Who?”
Lewis didn’t answer, instead he let go of Daniel, pulled out his phone and called a number. After a couple of rings a man on the other end answered.
“Yello?”
“That you Beast?”
The man on the line have out a hearty laugh that even Daniel could hear over the phone.
“Lou, to what do I owe the pleasure. Don’t tell me Jackson’s up and finally died on us?”
“Nothing so exciting, just wondering if you had some room at the inn? Got a few troubled Fluffies in need of a new home, I can’t take them and the boyfriend says he’ll dump me if I can’t help them.”
Beast pondered for a moment. “I got a few empty beds, how many we talking?”
“Five, all adults though one of them had a stunted growth, barely bigger than a colt.”
“I can’t promise anything but I might be able to help. Tell you what, I’ve got a couple things to finish up here, you good to meet me up the farm for about 2?”
“I can push back lunch and get the kids to look after the house. You want me to bring the Fluffies over?”
“Best not to, don’t want them getting their hopes up, take some pictures and tell me as much as you can over lunch.”
“Will do, thanks Beast, you’re a lifesaver.”
“Anytime Lou, tell Jackson he’s a prick for me.”
Lewis laughed as he hung up the phone and looked over at a confused Daniel.
“Good news, Beast say he should have room for some of them.”
“That’s great… who the fuck is Beast?”
